04 7 月 2023

Organic orchard becomes the first Regenagri-certified farm in France

GreenPods is a regenerative agriculture farm developer working to respond to the growing demand for fully traceable plant-based products. Its mission is to transform conventional agricultural operations into regenerative orchards.

In 2020, GreenPods started work to transform a conventional 150-hectare corn farm into a regenerative orchard. They promote a more resilient food system and restore: 

  • 土壤健康 
  • water cycles
  • 生物多样性
  • natural capital 

Working with a robust third-party certification programme like Regenagri backs up our regenerative claims, which is important for our clients and stakeholders.”

Boris Spassky, Co-founder of GreenPods

La Granja is France’s largest organic almond orchard to achieve the French low-carbon standard; Label Bas Carbone. They expect to capture an estimated 4575 tonnes of carbon dioxide over the next 25 years.  

Its story began in 2020 during the COVID lockdown. GreenPods’ founders came across a 150-hectare farm for sale in Toulouse. It had been producing conventional corn for 30 years, which was exported to Spain’s pork industry. This French corn was fed to pigs in fattening stations. The pigs were then sent to slaughterhouses, packed and shipped back to France, ending up on French supermarket shelves. This struck the team as a wasteful and out-dated model.  

The company secured the farm through a 25-year lease and converted it to organic farmland. Founders Martin and Boris started rotating soy, buckwheat, sunflower, spelt, winter oats, winter wheat, and sorghum. On the rest of the farm, they planted 64 hectares of organic almonds. 

Tree crops like almonds are a perfect response to the dual challenge we face: feeding the planet while mitigating climate change”.

Boris Spassky, Co-founder of GreenPods

Planting perennial crops on degraded land:  

  • captures carbon dioxide both in the woody mass of the trees and in the soil  
  • allows better water retention  
  • increases biomass production per hectare  
  • reduces erosion  

Farming organically at La Granja also avoids indirect emissions from the production of synthetic inputs. GreenPods now plans to replicate its model on the other side of the Pyrenees, in Aragon, Northern Spain. 

“In an economic world constrained by our planetary boundaries, I’m convinced that the unicorns1 of tomorrow will be regenerative companies. These companies embody the notion of ‘finite resources’ in their very DNA, turning it into an opportunity to create value; for the company, for its stakeholders and for society as a whole,” says Boris. 

1 Unicorns are privately-owned startup businesses worth more than $1 billion. 

This story was originally published in Regenagri’s 2023 Impact Report.